Room Request! Corinthia Hotel Budapest

This legendary Hungarian guesthouse is having a big-time Hollywood moment. We check in

Written by Tabitha Taft

The Corinthia Hotel Budapest is ready for its close up. The 440-room pile, which dates back to the 1800s, has long been one of Budapest’s most exclusive spots but now thanks to Wes Anderson’s latest film, Grand Budapest Hotel, it’s being seen in a whole new light. While Anderson’s movie places its titular hotel in the fictional Republic of Zubrowka, it’s easy to see how the director might have been influenced by the Corinthia, which was formerly known as the Grand Hotel Royale.

“In regard to Grand Budapest Hotel, apparently our hotel inspired the people who made the movie,” general manager Thomas M. Fischer says. “If you look at the advertisements for the movie and you look at our hotel, it’s obvious there are similarities between the two. And inside the hotel, features like the grand staircase are very, very similar.”

The Corinthia Hotel Budapest

Indeed, both hotels started off as high-end society mainstays before falling into disrepair; lucky for travelers, however, the Corinthia Hotel Budapest recently underwent a huge refurbishment project and has emerged one of the most stunning properties in Europe. Below, Fischer fills us in on the hotel’s most requested room.

Most requested room in the hotel:“The Presidential Suite, which is the biggest suite in Hungary at 240 square meters. For us, this is the room people always want to come see and experience.”

Corinthia Hotel Budapest’s Presidential Suite

What makes it special?
“It doesn’t belong to a certain era. I wish I could say it was a specific style, but our hotel is a grand lady, a classic hotel. You have all the luxuries of a modern hotel—state-of-the-art technology and communications—but the feeling of it is more traditional.”

Fun fact:“Our hotel goes back to the 19th century, when it hosted the first screening of a motion picture in Budapest. Our ballroom was transformed into a cinema and many people remember this property from when they grew up, they came here to watch their first movie.”